Tombo Ati
Encyclopedia
Tombo Ati is a traditional Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

nese song composed by Sunan Bonang
Sunan Bonang
Sunan Bonang, whose real name was Raden Maulana Makdum Ibrahim, was born in Tuban, East Java in 1465 CE and died in 1525 CE at Pulau Bawean.He was one of the Wali Songo, along with his father Sunan Ampel and his brother Sunan Drajat....

, one of Wali Sanga
Wali Sanga
The Wali Sanga are revered saints of Islam in Indonesia, especially on the island of Java, because of their historic role in the Spread of Islam in Indonesia. The word wali is Arabic for "trusted one" or "friend of God" , while the word songo is Javanese for the number nine...

 . This song is based one of famous hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....

 of prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...

. The song is about a Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

's ways of gaining spiritual peace and tranquility, through tahajjud
Tahajjud
Tahajjud , also known as the "night prayer" is a voluntary prayer, performed by followers of Islam. It is not one of the five obligatory prayers required of all Muslims, yet still, the Islamic prophet, Muhammad has been recorded as performing the tahajjud prayer regularly and encouraging his...

, reciting the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...

, fasting
Sawm
Sawm is an Arabic word for fasting regulated by Islamic jurisprudence. In the terminology of Islamic law, Sawm means to abstain from eating, drinking , having sex and anything against Islamic law...

, gathering with pious people, and in constant remembrance of Allah Most High, all of which are considered to be "Remedies for the Heart".

This song is still being taught at pesantren
Pesantren
Pesantren or Pondok Pesantren are Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia. According to one popular tradition, the pesantren education system originated from traditional Javanese pondokan; dormitories; ashram for Hindu or viharas for Buddhists to learn religious philosophies, martial arts and...

s, and has been sung, recorded and released by several Indonesian singers.

Lyric

The lyric of this song was written in vernacular
Vernacular
A vernacular is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is not native to the population, such as a national language or lingua franca.- Etymology :The term is not a recent one...

 Javanese language
Javanese language
Javanese language is the language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. In addition, there are also some pockets of Javanese speakers in the northern coast of western Java...

s. There are several modern adaptations, but a common version is:
Javanese
Javanese language
Javanese language is the language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. In addition, there are also some pockets of Javanese speakers in the northern coast of western Java...

 text

Tombo Ati iku limo perkorone
Kaping pisan moco Kuran lan maknane
Kaping pindo sholat wengi lakonono
Kaping telu wong kang soleh kumpulono
Kaping papat wetengiro ingkang luwe
Kaping limo zikir wengi ingkang suwe
Salah sawijine sopo iso ngelakoni
Mugi-mugi Gusti Allah nyembadani

English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 Translation

There are five remedies of heart
First, read the Quran and understand its meaning
Second, do the night prayer
Third, gather with pious people
Fourth, fast (literally: keep a hungry stomach) regularly
Fifth, do long zikir
Dhikr
Dhikr , plural ; ), is an Islamic devotional act, typically involving the repetition of the Names of God, supplications or formulas taken from hadith texts and verses of the Qur'an. Dhikr is usually done individually, but in some Sufi orders it is instituted as a ceremonial activity...

 at night
Anyone who can do even one of those
may the Lord God (Allah) bless

The key message of this song is that in order to gain spiritual peace, someone must follow the guidance of God.

Popularity

Five centuries after its composition, this song is still one of the most popular traditional Javanese songs. Its popularity also spread to mostly Muslim Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

n region such as Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...


. Islamic song contests, in Indonesia often use it as mandatory song. Due to its spiritual contents, pesantren
Pesantren
Pesantren or Pondok Pesantren are Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia. According to one popular tradition, the pesantren education system originated from traditional Javanese pondokan; dormitories; ashram for Hindu or viharas for Buddhists to learn religious philosophies, martial arts and...

s often teach it, particularly in traditional inland parts of Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

.

Indonesian singer has many times re-released it as modern religious song, often accomopanied with Indonesian translation. One of the latest adaptations, on the album 'Istighfar' by Opick, has sold at least 180,000 copies. Another adaptation, by Emha Ainun Nadjib, is also famous. This song is especially popular during the holy month of Ramadan
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...

.
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